List of NASCAR Series

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the premier class of racing in the world that involves production-based ‘stock’ cars. Today it has become synonymous with the American motorsports landscape.

Conceived in 1947 by business tycoon Bill France Sr., NASCAR was initially a move to organize racing as a sport in the U.S. Fast forward seven decades and it now boasts of annually conducted series in Canada, Mexico and Europe.

Even though ‘stock car’ is their DNA of racing, did you know that NASCAR has a series exclusive to pickup trucks? In fact, the Craftsman Truck Series is one of the three major national series in the U.S.A. Let us delve deeper into them.

The Cup Series is the topmost level of racing in NASCAR. Held since 1949, it is also the oldest running championship. It is what every professional American racer dreams to achieve in their career. The Next Gen specifications enforced in 2022 dictate all cars to have 5.86 liter naturally aspirated V8 engines with a five-speed transmission. Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota are the manufacturers that supply cars to all teams today with Goodyear being the sole tire supplier on the grid.

The 2023 Cup Series season features 36 races in total. There are five road course races, one dirt track event and one street course race with the rest of them conducted at the iconic ‘oval’ tracks. Points are awarded to finishers at each race, with a maximum of 40 to the winner. The top 16 drivers after the 26th round have their points tally reset and qualify for the ten-race playoffs.

Four bottom-placed drivers are eliminated from the title race after every three races in the playoffs leaving just four contenders in the Championship 4 grand finale. The driver who finishes this race ahead of the other three finalists is declared champion. Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson have the most Cup Series titles with seven each.

The Xfinity Series is regarded as the second rung of NASCAR. Its inaugural season was held in 1982 when it was called the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series. The manufacturers and tire suppliers are the same as the Cup Series. Even the season format is similar with the only difference being that only 12 drivers qualify for the playoff postseason. The races are held at the same tracks as well but with a reduced number of laps. Kyle Busch has the record for the most race wins in the Xfinity Series with 102.

The Craftsman Truck Series is the third tier of NASCAR. It is renowned for handing national series debuts to young drivers. It was first organized in 1995 under the banner of the NASCAR SuperTruck Series. Today, pickup trucks are specified to have 5.86 liter V8 engines with a 4-speed transmission. The key difference in the Truck Series season is that only 10 drivers qualify for the playoffs. Ron Hornaday Jr. holds the distinction of most Truck Series titles with four.

You might think NASCAR is only limited to exhilarating on-track action. However, the eNaSCAR Coco-Cola Series is already in its 14th season since its inception in 2010. The e-sports series is based on the iRacing platform and since 2020, has featured a nifty prize pool of $300,000. The e-sports fanfare was furthered with the inception of the DBOX eNASCAR International Series in 2021. Now, the eNASCAR division even has a College iRacing Series that was introduced in 2022.

The table below lists all the current NASCAR Series organized at national and international levels.